The reason we bring this subject up is because many are still confused as what the Apostle referred to when he spoke of those who are of “the way”. “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts…
Revelation Chapter 8 The First Trumpet VERSE 7 (NAU) “The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.” The one symbol that we have not considered yet was that all of the green grass was burned up. This is also mentioned in the above…
Revelation Chapter 8 One Third of the Trees Burned Up So how do we apply what we have learned to the symbols of the first trumpet? We find that one of the results of the truth being cast into the earth, or being misused to gain power over others resulted in the burning up of a third of the trees. As we explained before the four angels had been commanded not to harm the trees so we know this is…
Revelation Chapter 8 The First Trumpet As we had briefly outlined in our previous posts the early church had the beginnings of the wrong attitude which eventually led to the oppressive false church state system, composed of the beast and the image. So for that reason we think that the very beginnings of the problems with the earth (society, earthly institutions both religious and secular) that led to the beast and the image already existed in the first church. This…
Revelation Chapter 8 The First Trumpet VERSE 7 (NAU) “The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.” The mingling of blood with the hail or truth and throwing it into the earth would seem to indicate the misuse of doctrine in the churches…
Revelation Chapter 8 The First Trumpet One Third Taken Away = .666 etc. Another reason for the conclusion that this trumpet is showing us something bad, was an interesting observation that was made in regard to the adjective “one third”, that this and the next three trumpets have as a part of their vision. Others have explained the symbol one third in a number of different ways, but the most promising way that we know of is actually quite simple….
Revelation Chapter 8 The First Trumpet Having taken a brief look at the first interpretive viewpoint we would now like to examine the second interpretive viewpoint, which interprets the trumpets as showing how the false church was corrupting the truth. VERSE 7 (NAU) “The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up,…
Revelation Chapter 8 The First Trumpet The following briefly reflects the first interpretive viewpoint, which interprets the trumpets as showing the effects of the church messages (truth) on surrounding society VERSE 7 “The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.” The series of Trumpets seems to show the effects of the messages of…
Revelation Chapter 8 The First Trumpet “In most churches (who follow the futurist viewpoint) they view the trumpets as something that is still future. The reason for this is because they are looking at the symbols in too literal a manner thus they can’t imagine how they could have been fulfilled yet. This same problem (a too literal interpretation) is true of most of the book of Revelation in that they are still waiting for a future fulfillment of most…
Revelation Chapter 8 The First Trumpet An IMPORTANT note before we proceed: It should be understood that the translators did the best they knew when they divided the chapters as we have them in the text today, the original text having been written without interruption, viz. paragraphs, punctuation and etc. These are all of more modern invention; unfortunately at times they allowed their own personal bias to influence the narrative. Translators being heavily influenced by the teachings of the professed…